Dembele hitting good form
Mousa Dembele was voted the Spurs Odyssey man of the match after Tuesday night's 3-2 defeat at Anfield. This was Dembele's first man of the match win since we beat Stoke 3-0 at home on December 29th, 2013. Co-incidentally, that is when Dembele last scored a goal for Spurs, and in fact in any game, taking International appearances into account.
Dembele has hit a run of good form, and is relishing playing in his natural position, as an attacking midfielder. Whilst we'd like more goals, and more assists from him, Dembele's game has always been about his powerful running and territorial gains. Mousa's passing has been more incisive in those recent matches, and he certainly hasn't gone un-noticed, with four consecutive marks of 7 or more.
Dembele's contribution is not exactly remarkable, but the only other time this season he managed a mark over 7 was as part of an excellent team performance against Chelsea on New Year's Day. Even then Dembele did not start, but replaced the injured Mason after 14 minutes. In fact, Dembele has not often started Premier League games (8) and has only made 17 starts in our 41 games to date. That's less than Mason, and the same number as Bentaleb.
Dembele was not exactly renowned as a goalscorer in his Fulham days, but when he scored on his Spurs debut against Norwich in September, 2012, we hoped for more. This Liverpool goal (from close range) was only his fifth Spurs goal. The most memorable was the 90th minute equaliser in Lyon in February, 2013, which gave us passage to the Europa League Round of 16.
So, let's hope for more such performances by Dembele, and a return to winning league ways for Spurs, when West Ham come to The Lane on Sunday 22nd February.
Spurs' other scorer, Harry Kane, was graded well, as usual, whilst Hugo Lloris fell below his usual standards when that Markovic goal bobbled over his outstretched left hand to give Liverpool the lead.
As for referee Phil Dowd, Spurs Odyssey voters felt he was a "homer", and they might be persuaded that he has some Liverpool affection, as he awarded them a penalty in both our games this season. Mr Dowd scored 4.2 in August, and only 4.3 this time.
· See the spursometer in full
Results 10-11.02.15
Arsenal 2-1 Leicester
Hull 2-0 A. Villa
S'derland 0-2 QPR
Liverpool 3-2 Spurs
Chelsea 1-0 Everton
Man Utd 3-1 Burnley
S'hampton 0-0 West Ham
Stoke 1-4 Man City
C. Palace 1-1 Newcastle
West Brom 2-0 Swansea
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Chelsea 25 18 5 2 55-21 34 59
2. Man City 25 15 7 3 51-25 26 52
3. Man Utd 25 13 8 3 43-23 20 47
4. S'hampton 25 14 4 7 38-17 21 46
=========================================
5. Arsenal 25 13 6 6 47-28 19 45
=========================================
6. Spurs 25 13 4 8 39-34 5 43
7. Liverpool 25 12 6 7 36-29 7 42
8. West Ham 25 10 8 7 36-28 8 38
9. Swansea 25 9 7 9 28-33 -5 34
10. Stoke 25 9 6 10 28-33 -5 33
11. Newcastle 25 8 8 9 31-37 -6 32
12. Everton 25 6 9 10 31-35 -4 27
13. C. Palace 25 6 9 10 27-35 -8 27
14. West Brom 25 6 8 11 24-34 -10 26
15. S'derland 25 4 12 9 22-36 -14 24
16. Hull 25 5 8 12 23-34 -11 23
17. QPR 25 6 4 15 26-43 -17 22
=========================================
18. A. Villa 25 5 7 13 12-34 -22 22
19. Burnley 25 4 9 12 24-43 -19 21
20. Leicester 25 4 5 16 22-40 -18 17
